Top 72 Rangers prospects, 2025: Group 5 (49-60).

Lots of upside in this installment — and lots of youth.

We’ve arrived at our second tier of 12 in this countdown, and there are just as many players in today’s group (five) who were unranked when I last went through this semi-annual exercise as there were in last week’s dozen.

Is there anything to be taken from that? There’s certainly a higher eyebrow raise for a player who jumps from off the list completely to No. 51 than for one who is now ranked at No. 69. (Though you’re thinking, of course, that maybe the eyebrow should be raised at the author for misjudging the player before this.)

But it should also tell you that, as we talked about last week, player development is not a linear process. Where Jack Leiter appears to be right now is Exhibit A. Evan Carter may be Exhibit B, unfortunately — and I’m about to start working up a story on that — but Leiter’s turned corner and new gear is a reminder of the roller coaster we all have to buckle up for when it comes to young players, even the best ones, trying to establish themselves as a core piece of the biggest puzzle.

Maybe one or more of the five newcomers below will jump another tier or two by midseason. Maybe a couple fall back off the list entirely. That’s why I like doing this exercise twice a year (especially now that I have the space and editorlessness to make that call). Advances and stalls hit at different paces, sometimes for the same prospect and in the same season.

So here we go with our second of six groupings — kicking it off with three brand new Top 72’ers: one who signed to play pro ball in 2022, another in 2023, and a third in 2024.